Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets instant Reactions: New faces, same result

The shorthanded Utah Jazz remain winless on the road after their defense collapsed against the Brooklyn Nets.

Despite impressive performances from some surprise faces off the Utah Jazz bench, the Brooklyn Nets’ hot shooting and Utah’s suddenly porous defense led to a 118-107 loss on Friday. The Jazz have now fallen to 0-6 on the road.

Coming into the game, the Jazz knew they would be without Rudy Gobert, Joe Johnson, Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha and Dante Exum. Without four of their key contributors, Quin Snyder was left to come up with creative lineups throughout the night.

To mine and many Jazz fans’ satisfaction, Utah started the game with BOTH Rodney Hood and Donovan Mitchell. Utah’s starting lineup consisted of Joe Ingles, Jonas Jerebko and Derrick Favors to go along with the Hood/Mitchell backcourt.

The Nets were not without their own injuries. They announced that D’Angelo Russell underwent knee surgery, however, they did not release a time frame for his return.

This seemed to be just the break that the struggling Jazz needed to FINALLY pick up their first road win of the season as Russell scorched the Jazz for 26 points just last week in a Jazz home win.

Even without Russell, Utah couldn’t overcome their own injuries and lost yet again on the road. Utah remains the only NBA team remaining without a road victory.

Here are a few of my instant reactions from the defeat.

What should the Jazz do with Derrick Favors?

Who would have thought that Friday’s biggest matchup would be between the Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points, eight assists and five rebounds) and Utah’s Raul Neto (Career-high 22 points)?

Coming into the game, many believed Favors would be able to dominate the paint going up against the much smaller, yet scrappy Trevor Booker. While Favors showed flashes, he never really seemed to get into the flow of the game.

Favors’ performance on both ends left a lot to be desired. I believed the major silver lining to the Gobert injury would be that Favors could finally show his true potential consistently playing the center. If D-Faves’ struggles continue, the Jazz may not be left with any other choice but try to trade him.

Favors finished the night with 15 points and seven rebounds. While the numbers don’t seem as bad as I may be alluding, they really don’t paint a picture of his performance. I can understand his trouble to get easy looks as Booker played extremely tough defense, however, he lost multiple rebounds that were in his hands and was beat on the defensive end.

On a night with so many bench players showing effort, this does not bode well for Favors.

Shoot the ball Joe!

Two nights ago in New York, Ingles finished with 13 points, shooting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. He finished the Nets game in similar fashion, adding another 15 point performance while going 5-of-5 from three. That’s right, Ingles had hit his last eight 3-point attempts. (Side note: The Jazz all-time record for three-pointers in a row is 12).

What has been so frustrating about Ingles’ sudden shooting streak is his alarmingly low amount of attempts. The amount of times his unselfish play has led him to pass up an open three is almost laughable.

Ingles has proven to be one of Utah’s most reliable passers and has great court vision. Despite his knack for getting teammates involved, Coach Snyder’s offense seems to be creating open looks and Joe is simply not taking enough of them.

Rudy Gobert is a game-changer.

Plain and simple.

If Friday’s performance is any indication of where Utah’s defense will be while Rudy recovers from his injury, the Jazz are in some serious trouble.

While Brooklyn broke the game open in the first quarter behind their impressive 3-point shooting, they also were able to get quite a few uncontested looks near the rim.

Ex-Jazzmen Demarre Carroll and Trevor Booker combined to score 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting. That doesn’t happen with Gobert dominating the paint.

Brooklyn’s ability to get into the paint led Jazz defenders to sag off their men on the perimeter. Much to the credit of the Nets, they found the open man and consistently knocked down big shots to keep the Jazz at a comfortable deficit most of the night.

Even without Gobert, this Jazz team has the pieces to be an elite defensive squad, however, they need to learn how to play without their centerpiece.

The positives.

While much seems bleak in Jazzland lately, there are a few positives to take out of the Nets game.

While teams never wish to sit major contributors, injuries usually allow teams to experiment with different lineups and see what they have in terms of depth. That is exactly what Quin Snyder and his staff did in Brooklyn.

At one point in the first half, Utah played with a small-ball lineup of Mitchell, Hood, Alec Burks, Jerebko and Favors.

Promising bench player, Royce O’Neale got quality minutes as well and made the most of them. O’Neale’s rebounding and hustle on both ends of the floor further cemented his status as a fan favorite. His play may even earn him a role in the rotation going forward.

He also added the highlight of the night…

The big star of the Night for the Jazz was Raul Neto who added 22 points off the bench and fought hard all night.

While it was refreshing to see some different faces get their chance and perform well for the Jazz, they got balanced scoring from their starters as well.

Hood finished the night with 17 points and Mitchell added 15 points of his own to go along with seven rebounds and eight assists.

Much can be said about Utah’s lack of stars, however, there is no questioning the depth of this team.

Whats next?

The 6-10 Jazz won’t have to wait long for their next road win opportunity. Utah travels to play the 8-7 Orlando Magic on Saturday. Orlando is allowing coming into the game riding their own three-game losing streak.

Orlando hasn’t played since losing to Portland on Wednesday night. This won’t be an easy task for a Jazz team playing back-to-back night, however, Utah needs to find a way to steal a win from the Magic.

Next: To tank, make a change or stay the course: The Utah Jazz dilemma

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